SONNETTE

Sonnette, near Broadus, is an isolated community at the edge of the Custer National Forest. Charles Oscar Mason, who had been a trapper and buffalo hunter, pioneered the first settlement in this area about 1880. Before the establishment of the post office, Sonnette was known as Selway, and before that much of the area was called Camps Pass. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company) Sonnette is on Pumpkin Creek. The forest service land near the town offers a variety of topography, varying from rolling grasslands to steep rock outcrops. Vegetation varies from prairie to dense stands of ponderosa pine. Whitetail Cabin is available to rent through the Ashland Ranger District. In nearby Ashland, visitors can tour the St. Labre Indian School. It made a humble beginning in 1884 with the construction of a log cabin school operated by four Ursuline Sisters. The architecture structure of St. Labre Indian Chapel was inspired by the teepee of the Plains Indians. The great wooden beam that runs through the ceiling skyward, rests in the smoke hole opening. On either side of this great cross beam are beautiful stained glass windows.